


Hinder

by Season_Change



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-28 15:24:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15709962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Season_Change/pseuds/Season_Change
Summary: Its been over a year since Dipper Pines has been in a romantic relationship. Mabel forcefully signs Dipper up for a dating app and reluctantly he decides to give it a shot. However, the date doesn't seem to go as planned. Trusting Mabel a step further he takes her advice on how to escape and ends up meeting a mysterious stranger in the process.(Inspired by a post on Tumblr)





	1. Causing A Scene

**Author's Note:**

> This is an updated version. I have decided I will do a second chapter. Thank you all for the kudos!

Dipper absolutely hated this. It wasn't the atmosphere in the little coffee shop. No, the soft pop music playing just under the chattering of the locals was probably the only thing keeping him from bolting from his tiny table for two in the back corner. It was the twisting nervousness in his gut. It was riling up his breakfast making him glad he ate light that morning. His sweaty palms coupled with constant glances towards the door weren't helping but he couldn't stop. He was waiting for someone. Someone he never met before. For a date.  
  
Mabel had convinced him that it was time to move on. And in truth he already had! His break up happened over a year ago. It wasn't something he cried over anymore. They went their separate ways and Dipper couldn't be happier for her. His sister was under the impression that Dipper wasn't putting himself out there because he was still hurting. Even though he told her he wasn't dating because he hates dating.  
  
His last relationship had formed naturally from friendship to a deeper romantic intimacy. It stemmed from numerous common interests connecting them in a way that Dipper had never experienced before. Though he missed being close to someone, this just seemed so staged.  
  
Mabel had deviously made a profile for him on some dating application. Without his permission. She insisted it was for his own good. Dipper argued that his own good was his business and not hers. This, of course, led to a pouting session. After an hour of the silent treatment and trying to ignore Mabel's persistent badgering, he broke. There had already been messages from several people who were interested. That alone was a surprise to Dipper. He picked one to respond to and after a bit of back and forth, they decided to meet up. Mabel clapped him proudly on the back and rushed off to raid his closet for an outfit for his future date. This date.  
  
If he kept wiping his hands on his black slacks he was sure they would be soaked. Dipper didn't want to go to the restroom in case she came in while he was gone. He didn't want her to think he stood her up. She could just assume he was late, but that's not a very good impression either. Of course, neither is coming out of the bathroom. This is ridiculous. Meeting someone for the first time is nerve-wracking enough!  
  
The shop bell jingled. Dipper looked up and smiled awkwardly as he discretely wiped his hands on his pants once more and stood from his seat. Her long auburn hair bounced against her shoulders as she walked. She wore a pastel green sundress. It reminded him of something but he couldn't quite place it. Peeking from beneath were beige capris leggings paired with pink tennis shoes. Dipper was feeling a bit overdressed in comparison. Though it would have been worse if he hadn't secretly changed out of his red button up to his blue plaid before he left. Mabel would have given him quite the earful if she had seen.  
  
"Loraine?" Dipper held out his hand. "Hi! I'm Dipper." She grinned cheerfully and wrapped him in a hug. Dipper cringed at the intimate contact but wrapped his arms around her back anyway. Loraine pulled back and snorted.  
  
"Dipper? That's not some sort of innuendo username?" She took a seat at his table. He gritted his teeth. "No, it's just a nickname I prefer." He responded as he tried to encourage his limbs to loosen up. "Do you know what you would like? I can go and order for us." His suggestion was followed by a string of words he barely kept up with.  
  
"I'll have a medium caramel macchiato, iced, 2 pumps of hazelnut, whipped cream, no caramel drizzle on top. Thank you!" Within seconds she had her phone out and was typing rapidly with her thumbs. Dipper blinked, momentarily stunned. He walked towards the counter relaying the order with a muttered apology and requested a modest drip coffee with cream.  
  
Stuffing his hands in his pockets he pondered. Should he wait by the counter? Or is that rude? Should he wait at the table and return for the order? He was honestly feeling very uncomfortable. At least she was really friendly, judging from the hug he received at her arrival. She probably didn't mean to make fun of his nickname. Though she didn't apologize for it. She's probably just as nervous.  
  
The barista set his coffee on the counter. At this point, it would be rude to leave his drink and he couldn't return to the table without hers. Dipper's stomach twisted once again and he mentally cursed Mabel for making him do this. He glanced back to Loraine who was blissfully unaware of his mental turmoil. Typing away on her phone.  
  
Brushing aside their first encounter she was very beautiful. The red highlights in her hair shimmered in the sunlight streaming through the windows. Her hazel eyes scanning rapidly over her phone screen. Probably texting a friend updates. You can't be too careful when meeting someone off of the internet.  
  
Dipper took the drinks to the table and slid into his seat. "Here." He spoke softly, holding the coffee out to Loraine.  
  
"Thanks." She replied, not looking up. Three seconds ticked by before Dipper pursed his lips and set it on the table. Afterward, she tucked her phone away in her purse. Loraine took a sip, keeping her eyes on the man across from her. Her lashes flickered against her cheeks before she made a disgusted face. "Ugh. They never make it how I like it." She complained. "Don't you just hate that?" She looked down at his coffee.  
  
"I usually get something simple," Dipper said as he took a sip. Oh, was that rude? It sounded rude." I mean, you know, it's just harder to mess up something simple! Right?" He laughed nervously at himself and to his relief Loraine smiled.  
  
"That's so cute." She said as she reached for his hand across the table. "Don't be nervous." Loraine flashed him a flirtatious grin and gave him a wink. "You know, you're so much cuter than your profile pic." Dipper's face flushed. His eyes went wide with surprise.  
  
"Uh, thanks." He rubbed at the back of his neck. "You...too?" Dipper chuckled, but in his head sirens were roaring. His urge to run for the hills had only magnified since Loraine had hugged him. He tried to shake it off. "So uh, you mentioned you play DDAMD?" Maybe talking about a common interest would settle his nerves.  
  
"Oh no. I've never played." Dipper's heart dropped. "I've always been interested in it but I've never played." Well, that hadn't panned out like he had hoped, but there was an interest there at least.  
  
"Oh, would you maybe want to play sometime?" Dipper hadn't played the game since his last relationship ended. He had no one to play it with. He hoped if he didn't get a partner he'd at least get a playmate out of this.  
  
"Maybe," Loraine responded as she squeezed his hand. "I'm more interested in seeing where this goes first." The alarms in Dipper's brain screeched louder than ever. He wanted out now! Having never been good at standing up for himself in social situations Mabel had provided him with a unique back up plan. It sounded stupid at the time, but as he excused himself to the restroom it was looking like his only way out. He waved to Loraine awkwardly as he backed into the tiled room.  
  
Turning on his location he scanned through his applications on his phone. His thumb hovered over the red 'H' icon. Dipper hesitated. Loraine definitely had some major creepy vibes and he really didn't want to think of an excuse. This whole thing was Mabel's fault anyway. He didn't need a relationship to be happy. He sighed. Mabel's suggestion got him into this and she assured him this was a good way out. He opened the app, Hinder.  
  
Immediately his location and name were pinged out to participants nearby. The signal was an S.O.S; A first date gone creepy.  
  
Locking his phone Dipper washed his hands and exited the bathroom. Surprisingly his table was empty. His shoulders slumped in relief and he reached to cancel his call for help. "Hey!" Loraine's voice whispered breathily in his ear and he jumped about a foot in the air.  
  
"Loraine! What are you doing right outside the door?" Dipper asked. He backed away as she moved closer to his face.  
  
"I was just waiting for you. That's not too weird is it?" She held her hands behind her back, her full lips pouting in a way that would have been cute if her earlier behavior hadn't been so disturbing. "Nope!" He replied tightly as he bumped into a chair. "Not weird at all!"  
  
"Do you want to get out of here?" She asked fluttering her eyelashes. "I know a nice park down the way. We can sit and talk." The offer would have been nice if she wasn't so insistent on invading Dipper's personal space.  
  
"But I haven't finished my coffee yet." Dipper motioned to their table. "Don't want three dollars to go to waste!" He scurried to grab his cup and sat sideways in his chair, sipping the liquid slowly. Loraine huffed but had followed to sit opposite of him. The chiming of a new customer hit his ears and Dipper looked up with hope in his eyes.  
  
The man who entered was panting heavily. He hunched over placing his hands on his denim covered knees. Mussed blond hair hung over his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. He tossed his head back revealing one eye was covered with a black eyepatch. His good one scanned the premises.  
  
"Dipper!" The blond shouted. Dipper stood before he caught sight of his table. Immediately he questioned what he had gotten himself into as the stranger stumbled toward him, knocking over an empty chair in the process. The man gripped his shoulders and Dipper noticed that there was the smallest trace of red fluid leaking from beneath the black patch over his eye. "Thank god I found you before they did!"  
  
"They? What? Who-" Dipper stuttered and the man put a finger over his lips. He felt his face burning in embarrassment. He gazed into the man's single wild blue eye which gave a slow, purposeful blink. It was odd how a sudden swell of relief settled over him.  
  
"I told you. I told you we were going too far but you insisted. 'Oh don't worry, Bill! They can't possibly find us!'" The man, Bill, started rambling. "Well, they did! We're like the dwarves!" He hissed. "We dug too deep!"  
  
This wasn't what he was expecting. He had heard that people would come in claiming to be an ex-partner wanting to take you back. Or even someone coming in claiming a family emergency came up and no one had been able to reach you. This, however, was a whole spectacle of a scene. It was hilarious.  
  
"You can't be serious?! Our connections were secure!" He watched the blond's lips twitch just a slightly more than they had been already.  
  
"Um, what's this guy on about? Do you know him?" Loraine asked from her seat. Dipper looked to her then back to the man. Bill gave the tiniest jerk of his head toward the door.  
  
"I thought they were too but we were wrong! I only just escaped." He adjusted his eyepatch and thick crimson gushed from beneath as he swore.  
  
"Shit. We need to get that looked at!" Dipper glanced at his date who looked inconvenienced at best and was clearly annoyed.  
  
"No! No hospitals!" Bill pushed at Dipper's hands.  
  
"Don't worry, I know a guy! Listen, Loraine, this has been nice but I got to go."  
  
"That's a fucking understatement," Bill commented. "We have to leave town. Maybe even the country!"  
  
"Wait. What? But what about our date?" Loraine cried out in outrage. Dipper cringed and Bill didn't give him a chance to respond as he started pulling him away. "I'm sure you'll find someone else, Honeydew!" Bill called over his shoulder. Dipper looked behind him to see her standing, confused and mouthing the word 'Honeydew' questioningly. The nickname clicked as he realized that the color of Loraine's dress had reminded him of the flesh of honeydew melon. He turned his gaze forward and grinned as this strange man pulled him down the sidewalk. The all-seeing eye overtaking his vision.  
  
They rounded a corner putting two blocks behind them before Bill stopped them in an alleyway and cackled madly. Dipper eyed him suspiciously. Having the opportunity his eyes roamed over the stranger's outfit. A black hoody, unzipped in the front with the phrase 'Illumi-Naughty' written in yellow font.  
  
"For a minute there I didn't think you'd play along." Bill pulled off the black patch. A packet of ketchup fell to the ground.  
  
"Oh my god. Did you really have that on top of your eye the whole time?" Dipper shook his head in disbelief.  
  
"Hey, when I perform I go all out!"  
  
"Clearly." Dipper presented his palm for a handshake. Bill happily obliged. "I feel like I owe you one for saving me back there." Bill leaned against the bricks and stuffed his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Maybe you do." He teased. "How bad was the date that you couldn't just tell her to shove off?" Dipper shuddered.  
  
"She crossed a few physical boundaries," He started before narrowing his eyes. Dipper didn't owe anyone an explanation. "Look I shouldn't have to explain myself-" He began to walk away but Bill stepped in front of him, hands raised. "Wait! I didn't mean it like that. Just usually this is the kind of thing girls take advantage of." Bill explained. Dipper eyed the taller man skeptically. "I'm just curious by nature."  
  
That was something Dipper could relate to. So he sighed, "I hate dating." Bill tilted his head.  
  
"Why?"  
  
It was like something in him had snapped and Dipper just started going off. "Everyone has been pressuring me! I just don't get it, okay?! Dating is, weird! It's WEIRD!" He began to pace back and forth between the buildings. "You meet a stranger and go out in public and you put all this effort into wooing each other and in the end you might not even be compatible, it's just...fucking WEIRD!" Dipper threw his hands in the air before letting them fall. His chest heaved as he took in a shakey breath. Bill hummed in contemplation.  
  
"Want to practice?"  
  
"What?" Dipper turned to the man he just met and regarded his serious expression. Bill didn't look like he was joking.  
  
"Well, you obviously don't know how to date. Maybe some practice could help. Mellow you out?" He broke into a grin. "We could get to know each other." He wiggled his eyebrows, making Dipper snort in amusement that was quickly overcome with disbelief.  
  
"Are you hitting on me?" He watched as Bill's grin widened.  
  
"That depends. Is it working?" He gave the brunet a wink that sent his face aflame.  
  
"Oh my god." He slapped a hand over his eyes and tucked an arm around himself. "You are insane."  
  
"Sure I am! What's your point?" Dipper backed himself against the opposite wall and Bill positioned himself so he was leaning over him with a foot of distance between them. It was close enough that Dipper could feel his presence but not be over crowded. He pressed his palm against the cement intending to catch those brown eyes. Instead, chocolate strands of curls shifted into his view as Dipper seemed to admire the garbage stains on the concrete beneath their feet.  
  
"I've never...I mean..." Dipper was sure his face looked like a ripe tomato. He hugged himself and shrunk as far against the building as he could.  
  
"Never been out with a guy? I can't say I'm surprised when it's clear you've never had a proper date." Bill got what he wanted after that. Dipper's fierce gaze met his. "I've been on dates!" He declared. "Plenty of dates! That disaster back there was technically a date!" He motioned to the alley opening and took a surprising step forward but Bill didn't back away.  
  
"Yeah? And this could be a date." Bill arched an eyebrow and Dipper gave him a light shove.  
  
"You're insufferable!" he growled, turning his head. Bill turned his head back with a single finger on his chin.  
  
"And you're adorable," he smirked but didn't let his touch linger. Bill didn't want to spook him.  
  
"Do you do this all the time? Is this some sort of game?" Dipper figured that Hinder app was too good to be true. Clearly there were some repercussions he hadn't thought to consider. He watched as Bill's smug attitude evaporated, smirk vanishing. He actually appeared to be puzzled.  
  
"You know, it's not a bad idea but I'm more of a spur of the moment kind of guy." He backed off and shoved his hands into his jean pockets. He thought back for a moment before adding with a lopsided grin, "This is a first for me." Dipper held back a groan. Just his luck.  
  
"Why me?" he muttered. Bill shrugged and Dipper looked to the open sky between the rooftops.  
  
"I'm not sure myself," Bill held out his hand. "But I'd like to find out." He waited but Dipper didn't respond. Clouds were rolling in, he noted. It was going to rain soon. "What do you say?" Bill waved his hand up and down, hoping to catch the man's attention.  
  
Dipper scanned him once more. It wasn't that Bill wasn't attractive. He'd been checking him out since he burst into the coffee shop if he was honest with himself. He'd only been in one romantic relationship in his twenty-one years of life. The way it occurred was completely different to what he was experiencing now. He felt nervous? A little excited? He turned to the opening of the alley and glanced at Bill through the side of his eye. Nope! Back to the sidewalk. How could his face feel even hotter than before? He was sure he was at his limit.  
  
"One date?" Bill insisted. "You can pick the time and place! And if you aren't feeling it just say so! No Hinder necessary!" He took a step back and leaned forward in a sort of bow and extended his hand further forward. "Deal?"  
  
He could hear Mabel in the back of his head chanting, "Do it! Do it!" Dipper pouted. That alone made him want to run. He only just met this man. Under very strange circumstances. However, there was something about him that made him curious. So...  
  
"Give me your phone." Dipper held out his hand. Raising an eyebrow Bill followed his request and placed his unlocked phone in his palm. He typed his cell number and saved it in Bill's address book. "There." He handed it back to the blond. "Send me a text."  
  
Dipper started to walk away when his phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket, back still turned and wiggled it in the air as he turned the corner, knowing it was from Bill. Opening up the message he had sent made him nearly drop his phone.  
  
"Nice ass! ;P"


	2. Questionable Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper arrives home at the Mystery Shack to find Mabel has gone MIA despite promising to be there after his date to hear all about it! A quick phone call and a couple of messages later he follows through with scheduling his end of the deal with Bill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not a very long chapter and on top of that, there's a weird break in the middle. These were just two parts that were too short to be on their own so they had to merge and become one. I hope you all like it! Thank you so much for the support and kudos and comments! I love you all!

"Mabel! This is all your fault!" Dipper called as the screen slammed against the door frame. He strolled into the living room to his Grunkle Stan snorting himself awake in front of the TV. He coughed for a moment and motioned for Dipper to wait before he could pass by to search the house for his twin.  
  
"Gah," He hacked. "Lungs aren't what they used to be." He muttered. "Mabel's out. Working on something with that Northwest kid." Dipper frowned. She had promised to wait at the shack to hear all about his coffee date.  
  
"How'd it go? You have a nice time?"  
  
"It was...interesting." Dipper's hands found his pockets, his shoulders scrunched up to his reddened ears. "I don't think I'll be seeing her again." Truth. Nothing but truth in those statements. He patted himself on the back mentally.  
  
"Yeah well, plenty of fish in the sea and all that." Stan nodded. "You've got time, kid." He turned his attention back to the flickering screen.  
  
Grateful for the lack of interrogation Dipper climbed the stairs and headed to the attic bedroom to hide away for the rest of the day. A crime novel was waiting on his bedside table. It was the perfect tool to take his mind off the terrible ordeal. He situated himself on the mattress, propping up pillows against the wall to make a little nest for the next few hours. He checked his phone as he pulled it from his pocket. He had messages on the dating application. Sighing, he debated on whether to read them now or not.  
  
BZZZZT BZZZZT  
  
Dipper fumbled to catch the device before it fell. A picture of Mabel making a silly face took over the screen. Once it was secure he answered the phone.  
  
"Soooooo?" Mabel's melodic inquiry increased in pitch over thumping bass, cheers, and chanting. Hearing the damning evidence made him feel a little neglected. Mabel was already around a lot less than she used to be. The Mystery Twins both had responsibilities that prioritized over their twin time and Mabel was at some sort of rave.  
  
"I refuse to answer that." He responded hotly. "What is going on over there?" It wasn't the first time her fun took priority. Normally Dipper would brush it off, happy that Mabel was happy, but this hadn't even been something he wanted to do in the first place. Whatever had her attention now he wished it could have distracted Mabel sooner to avoid this whole disaster.  
  
"Okay, I know how this sounds but Pacifica said this was a really important meeting to help get funding for our latest project and I didn't expect it to be a big fancy schmancy party let alone that it would be in New York! New! York! And I-" Mabel rambled so quickly Dipper was only catching clips of sentences.  
  
Pacifica and Mabel were running a fashion company together. Mabel would design the ensembles on paper and produce prototypes while Pacifica managed finances and connections. The heiress refused to rely on her parents' cash. She didn't want their company to be something they could take away from her. Dipper respected that she was trying to find her own path to success, though was a little wary it involved his sister's participation. None the less, Mabel was happy at the opportunity and willing to do what it takes to succeed.  
  
"Okay, okay! I get it." Mabel left out of obligation to her work. That was a forgivable offense. One of their responsibilities that took priority.  
  
"So do I still get the deets?" He could hear the bounce in her voice.  
  
"The grunkles know where you are, right? And you're being safe?" Dipper felt anxious about having his twin across the nation. Mabel had better have told them where she was going.  
  
"Yes, Grunkle Stan knows. He wanted to come but I may have fibbed a little and told him I'd had an escort on the way. But I will have a real one on the way home! And Pacifica will be with me!" Dipper hummed in thought as he processed the information. She got there safely, she'll be delivered home that way.  
  
"Fine." Mabel screeched in excitement.  
  
"Okay! So tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Do I hear wedding bells?"  
  
"Mabel, even if things had gone well you wouldn't be hearing wedding bells for a good few years." Dipper slumped forward on his desk, letting his forehead thump lightly against the wood before tilting his chin to the surface.  
  
"Aww no! What happened? No sense of humor? Talked too much? Did she not look like her picture? She looked gorgeous! Too gorgeous..."  
  
"Looks aren't everything." Dipper sighed and Mabel's 'I know that!' went ignored. "She just came off really creepy."  
  
"You can find creepy in everything," Mabel argued.  
  
"So?" He wasn't exactly sure how to describe the whole experience without looking paranoid. At least up to the bathroom portion of the tale. That was an undeniable crossed line into the weird zone.  
  
"So, what exactly happened? Give me the play by play!"  
  
"Do you really have time for this?" Dipper asked. He didn't want his sister to lose her opportunity to further her career just so he wouldn't feel abandoned.  
  
"It's fine! If I didn't have the time I wouldn't have called you!" There was a muffled voice on her end. "Wait, hold on a sec," She told Dipper and she covered the speaker.  
  
"Which one? ...number," There was a brief rustling noise and she moved the phone to her shoulder. "One sec, Dip. Just a..." Fabric rubbed at the receiver for a moment. "There you go. Thanks again for this by the way. You're a life saver!"  
  
"Mabel?" There was a bit of shuffling. "Are you in the coat check?"  
  
"It was a little difficult to find a quiet zone, alright?" Mabel sputtered. "This guy was nice enough to let me hide out just, nevermind that. SPILL!"  
  
Shaking his head Dipper relayed the events of his coffee date in as much detail and with as little bias as he could manage. Admittedly the behavior that influenced him to resort to Hinder was perhaps just aggressive flirting. Mabel didn't take that too well. She was, after all, very familiar with coming on strong.  
  
"You used Hinder on her?" Sympathy for Loraine embraced her question.  
  
"She waited for me directly outside the bathroom door." Dipper declared flatly. A long hiss of vacuuming air through teeth followed.  
  
"Yikes. Okay. Maybe that was a good call."  
  
"Yeah, I thought so." Dipper agreed. At the time he was more focused on trying not to panic but as he thought back on it he was glad he trusted his gut. If it wasn't for Bill he could've been found in a ditch in the park or something.  
  
He replayed Bill's theatrical rescue in his mind. It was an impressive performance, even up close. Maybe Dipper was imagining it now but in his memory that cerulean eye shinned with mischief and the corners of his lips never failed to curl the tiniest bit upward at each pause. Though, never more so than when Dipper had joined in the act. No doubt the few onlookers had been thoroughly entertained.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well, what?" He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Mabel about Bill just yet. He didn't want her to assume anything. Whenever she found out anything about his love life she would plant the balls of her feet and push. With Mabel in the dark there wasn't any pressure for it to be something, and that thought relieved a lot of anxiety.  
  
"You know what?! What happened?" She pried.  
  
"I don't know what you're expecting." Dipper had decided. "Some guy came in and saved my ass and I had to embarrassingly explain why I didn't want to try and talk out the situation. I certainly won't be forgetting it any time soon." Every sentence rang with truth through the power of technicalities. "So maybe now you can get off my back? Let me make my own decisions about my love life?"  
  
The minute of silence Mabel left him in had Dipper concerned he had said too much. Her sigh was heavy with defeat but she took a breath and he knew she was about to take up her position on the battlefield again. Or, that's what he had thought.  
  
"I was just trying to help. You seem so lonely. I don't want you to give up because of one loss." That seemed like it was coming out of nowhere and Dipper could not be more confused. Give up on what exactly? Where had she gotten that idea?  
  
"Give up? Mabel wha-" He didn't get the chance to finish.  
  
"Yeah okay! I'm coming out! Jeez! Dipper, I got to go. I'll see you when I get home tomorrow night! Love you!" The line went dead and Dipper was left staring blankly at her photo in confusion.  
  
What loss was she talking about? The coffee date? He hadn't considered it a loss. Maybe a loss of his time, he snorted. His phone vibrated and the notification for the dating application's message system flashed. Sighing, he resigned himself to his fate. The multiple boxes of text from Loraine had his eyes bulging.  
  
"Yikes." He mumbled.  
  
The lines of sentences started out sullen, developing into disgruntled comments before reaching a full-fledged multi-paragraph rant. Loraine had, with the help of her friends, pieced together exactly what had happened. She had been 'Hindered'.  
  
Loraine claimed that she had been wounded emotionally. She didn't understand why he couldn't just talk to her about feeling uncomfortable. His lack of an instant response irked her into making comments about his lack of trust. She mentioned how he didn't even tell her his 'real name'. Then, as she continued she bounced from insulting him to complimenting him, to boosting herself up as the best possible girlfriend he could ever have in a mess of text that Dipper was not about to deal with. He blocked her and deleted the app.  
  
\-----------------------------------------------------  
  
Dipper would describe the act of giving personal contact information to a stranger as a lapse of judgment. It was certainly a risk that he had never taken before or deemed necessary. Even when meeting Loraine their method of communication was strictly through the dating application and Dipper was forever grateful for his own caution. He didn't want to theorize the possibilities if they had traded e-mails, let alone numbers. Luckily, it was avoidable since his mind was on someone else entirely.  
  
Over the last three days, Dipper had managed to distract himself from his blond savior by keeping himself busy. Working hours were the easiest of his days, but whenever his mind was idle it would drift. He hated to admit there was an attraction there and it set him on edge.  
  
His face would flush at the memory of his back pressing against a wall in the alleyway and Bill leaning over him. Dipper scowled at the fluttering sensation in his stomach thinking of that fingertip to his chin guiding his gaze to meet that heterochromia stare accompanied by a smugly flirtatious smirk. Dipper tried to convince himself that it was a joke. There was no way Bill was being serious, he was just goofing off. Ruffling his feathers.  
  
Then at seven that evening, as Dipper lounged on his bed, laptop on knee, a ding rang atop his side table. It was a text message.  
  
"You trying to back out of our deal, Pine Tree?"  
  
Pink flourished from Dipper's cheeks to his ears. He hadn't expected Bill to text him again. Ever. He felt almost annoyed that he did, suspicious of some sort of long game. And what was with that nickname?  
  
"No. And Pine Tree?"  
  
"Your last name's Pines. You put it in my phone."  
  
Dipper smacked his face a little too hard at the wrong angle. Now his nose was sore and he felt like an idiot. Of course, the answer had been obvious.  
  
"What's wrong with calling me Dipper? Everyone does." His first name was only known to his closest family and friends.  
  
"That's why. So, where are we going and when should I be there?"  
  
He didn't want to call him Dipper because everyone does? It had already been made obvious that Bill was a weird guy and that answer made sense in a way because of it. The man was also persistent. He wondered how persistent. Why was it even important?  
  
"What if I said a year from now? In Paris, France?"  
  
The response wasn't as instantaneous as the others, but there still was one.  
  
"I didn't consider loopholes in our verbal contract. Touché."  
  
The resulting triumphant smirk lingered on his lips for five minutes. After another ten Dipper started to feel like an asshole. They did have a deal. Bill had saved him from a rather unstable situation. Those messages from Loraine were damning evidence of just how much.  
  
"What does your schedule look like next week?"  
  
"Clear as crystal for Sun, Wed, and Thurs."  
  
"I'll meet you at The Infinity Die at 12P on Wednesday."  
  
After setting his phone down Dipper shoved his cherried face into his hands. He was seriously questioning his life choices, but even more so as a familiar ding reached his ears. It was another message from Bill.  
  
"Since you picked the where and when I get to choose the activity. See you then, Pine Tree ;P"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time our two favorite dorks have their date! Thank you for reading! Thanks in advance for kudos and comments!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I know nothing about coffee except I like it and always order from the menu with no specifics if I get it at a shop of some sort! No shade to people who know what they like! <3


End file.
